McLaren has played down reports its 2014 car is yet to pass all of the mandatory FIA crash tests.
"It is normal at this time of the year for teams to push to the limit to achieve maximum performance...

McLaren has played down reports its 2014 car is yet to pass all of the mandatory FIA crash tests.

"It is normal at this time of the year for teams to push to the limit to achieve maximum performance," a source at the Woking based team reportedly told the German news agency DPA.

"It is no different when it comes to the crash tests," he added, insisting the MP4-29 will pass the tests before it makes its track debut.

However, it is not clear if the tests will be passed in time for the first pre-season session at Jerez in just over a week. Eric Boullier said recently he knew as "fact" that Lotus will not be the only team missing in southern Spain.

Spain's El Mundo Deportivo said McLaren has scheduled a new round of crash tests for the forthcoming week.

Lotus also struck trouble with its FIA tests recently, but the Enstone based team announced that the E22 is now fully homologated, even though it will only debut at the second test, in Bahrain.

It is believed an innovative nose design was the reason for the Lotus crash test delay, with Italy's Omnicorse speculating the team will revive a 'walrus'-style solution similar to Williams' memorable 2004 car.